Released in 2018, the AVO is an autonomous robotic weeding platform. Equipped with GPS positioning, visual navigation and machine learning capacities, AVO detects and applies herbicides to weeds with centimeter-scale precision. Herbicide application with AVO reduces herbicide use by greater than 90% while preventing crops from being indirectly sprayed, preserving yields and organic soil life while reducing costs. AVO is solar power and equipped with rechargeable batteries. Once field boundaries and crop line are calibrated, AVO can operate at high speeds, on a variety of rough terrain, and at any time of the day, treating up to 10 hectares of land per day. Currently trained on rumex, rapeseed, sugar beets and green beans, Ecorobotix developers hope to teach AVO to recognize weeding patterns for more crops, such as spinach, onions and salads. Reducing herbicide use is a significant cost reduction, while yielding significant environmental benefit, and solving a growing problem in the farming sector: manual labour shortages.
The autonomous robot weeder from Ecorobotix. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ecorobotix.com/en/avo-autonomous-robot-weeder/
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Artificial Intelligence, Industry/Natural Commodities, Internet of Things, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies
Air Pollution Robot
The dangers of air pollution to human health are well documented, though the traditional methodology of collecting and reporting on sample lags behind the need to keep abreast and regulate air pollution in a meaningful amount of time. The use of drones and robots have been identified by researchers as resources that can be tweaked […]
Artificial Life, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities, Lifestyle, Monitoring
Telematic Rivers
Erica Kermani’s artwork seeks to answer a central question: if rivers were seeing an equal, living entity, would humans take issues like climate change threatening them more seriously? In his year-long art exhibition in 2017, Kermani, in collaboration with Diana Salcedo & Jeana Chesnik, created a new forum of interaction between humans and rivers to […]
Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies
Co-occupied Boundaries
Art is easily found in nature but rarely is what considered art today inherently natural. The concept of co-occupied mediums that serve to be both functional for nature and aesthetically pleasing to people is being actively explored by Asya Ilgun and Phil Ayres, from the CITAstudio at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In […]
Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies